Aly Raisman
Alexandra "Aly" Raisman (born May 25, 1994 in Needham, Massachusetts) is an American artistic gymnast who is a three-year member of the U.S. national gymnastics team. She is a member of the 2012 gold-medal winning American team, also known as the Fierce Five, as well as the 2012 Olympic Floor Exercise Champion. Raisman trains at Brestyan's Gymnastics with Alicia Sacramone and has similar skills and physique. In 2009, Raisman also performed her floor exercise to music that Sacramone had used earlier in her career. Raisman won a gold medal in team gymnastics along with a bronze medal in floor at the 2011 World Championships. Personal Life Raisman is Jewish, and has three younger siblings. She began gymnastics as a toddler when her mother, Lynn a former high school gymnast, put her in a "Mommy & Me" class at 18 months old. She trained at Excel Gymnastics until she was 10, then began training at Brestyan's American Gymnastics under Mihai & Sylvia Brestyan. Raisman is a student at Needham High School where she attended until the end of her Junior year. She completed her senior year via online classes so she could focus on training for the 2012 Summer Olympics. Career 2009 In the junior division of the 2009 American Classic in San Diego, Calif, Raisman won the vault title, tied for fourth on balance beam, placed sixth on floor exercise and 10th all-around. In the 2009 CoverGirl Classic's junior division, Raisman placed third on floor (14.400), eighth on bars (13.900) and 12th all-around (54.050). At the 2009 U.S. Junior National Gymnastics Championships, Raisman placed third all-around (112.60) behind winner Kyla Ross (114) and silver medalist Bridgette Caquatto (113.450). She placed second on balance beam (28.950) and fifth on vault (29.650). In the 2009 Junior Pan American Championships in Aracaju, Brazil, Raisman won the gold on vault and floor, and she earned a share of the U.S. team gold medal. She also placed third all-around. 2010 Raisman's senior career began in March 2010 at the Tyson American Cup, where she placed second all around, first on vault, and second on beam and floor exercise. Also in March 2010, Raisman was a member of the gold-winning U.S. team at the City of Jesolo Championships. She placed first all around, first on floor and vault, and third on beam. In May 2010, Raisman was a member of the gold-medal winning U.S. team at the Pacific Rim Championships. She scored second place all around and made finals in bars (7th), beam (2nd) and floor exercise (2nd). In July 2010 at the U.S. CoverGirl Classic competition, Raisman was fifth AA with a 55.7. Her score was particularly impacted by vault, where she attempted a 2.5 twisting Yurchenko vault ("Amanar") but crashed, landing on her hips, incurring a large penalty (7.5 execution) and only being recognized for a lower valued double-twisting Yurchenko. At the 2010 U.S. National Championships in Hartford, Connecticut, Raisman placed third in the all-around (115.650), behind winner Rebecca Bross (120.3) and silver medalist Mattie Larson (117). She placed third on both balance beam (28.300) and floor (29.500). Raisman was named to the 2010 world team. At the 2010 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, she helped Team USA win the silver medal behind Russia by .200 of a point. She qualified third into the Women's Individual All Around competition but had a horrible bar routine which placed her in 13th in the final. She also qualified for the Women's Floor Exercise Final, and had a great routine with good, strong landings and came in 4th by .066 of a point. 2011 Raisman was initially announced by USA Gymnastics as the sole American female representative for the March 5, 2011 AT&T American Cup, but she was joined by two-time American Cup winner Jordyn Wieber (who was a last minute replacement for a non-U.S. gymnast). Raisman finished in third place behind Wieber (first) and 2010 world all around champion Aliya Mustafina (second). At the March 19, 2011 City of Jesolo Championships, Raisman was a member of the United States team that won gold over the Italians and Russians. She won bronze in the all-around and golds on balance beam and floor exercise, the last shared with Sabrina Vega. On July 23, 2011, Raisman won the all-around (57.25), placed first on floor exercise (14.7) and placed third on beam (15.0) at the 2011 CoverGirl Classic in Chicago, IL. She also competed her Amanar vault successfully for the first time, achieving the second highest score (15.1) on vault behind Brestyan's teammate Alicia Sacramone. Raisman won the all-around bronze medal (114.60) at the 2011 U.S. Senior National Championships in St. Paul, Minnesota, held August 18–20, 2011. She placed third on floor exercise (29.15) and sixth on balance beam (27.9). Following two selection camps at the Karolyi Ranch in New Waverly, Texas, Raisman was named to the U.S. team for October's 2011 World Gymnastics Championships in Tokyo, Japan. During the preliminary round of competition at 2011 Worlds, Raisman delivered a strong all-around performance, qualifying to the all-around final in fourth place (58.432). In addition, she qualified first to the floor final (14.833) and sixth to the beam final (14.933). The skills she competed included a double twisting Yurchenko on vault (14.666), a tucked double front dismount on bars (14.0), an arabian double front dismount on beam, and a 1 1/2 to tucked double arabian to tucked punch front on floor. The U.S. team finished the preliminary round in first place (234.253), ahead of Russia (231.062), China (230.370) and Romania (227.228). Raisman performed on vault, balance beam and floor during the women's team final competition at Worlds. She executed a double-twisting Yurchenko on vault, and her skills on beam included a back handspring to layout and a double arabian dismount. On floor, she performed a tucked double arabian and a piked double arabian, along with a triple twist and a double pike dismount. The U.S. won the team gold medal (179.411) over second-place Russia (175.329) and third-place China (172.820). During the women's all-around final at Worlds, Raisman got off to a good start on vault with a high-scoring Yurchenko double twist (15.233). She faltered on uneven bars when one of her hands slipped off the high bar, resulting in several errors, but she finished her routine with a clean double front dismount (12.90). She rebounded on beam with a set that included a back handspring layout, a front pike layout stepout and a double arabian dismount (14.525). She continued to regain ground on floor exercise, where she tumbled a 1 1/2 to double arabian to punch front, a piked double arabian, a triple twist and a double pike (14.9). She finished the all-around in fourth place—the same as her qualifying finish during preliminaries. Raisman competed in two event finals, the balance beam and the floor. She placed fourth on beam with a score of 15.066 and took the bronze on floor, scoring 15.000 on that apparatus. Raisman ended her beam set with her arabian double front dismount. On floor, her skills included a 1 1/2 to double arabian to punch front, a piked double arabian, a triple twist and a double pike. Raisman was believed to join the gymnastics team of the University of Florida but as the signing day passed without a sign of her, rumours of her going pro emerged. They were confirmed on the 16th of November as she signed with the agency Octagon Sports who will represent her from this point on. By becoming a professional athlete, Raisman gave up her NCAA eligibility, following her Worlds teammates Jordyn Wieber and Alicia Sacramone. 2012 On March 3, 2012, Raisman competed at the American Cup. She threw a 2-1/2 Yurchenko (Amanar) vault and scored a 16.100. She faltered a little on uneven bars, but came back with strong beam and floor routines. On floor, she debuted a new opening pass: a one and a half twist walkout into double Arabian punch front layout. She placed second behind teammate Jordyn Wieber. Raisman was named to the team that would compete at the City of Jesolo Trophy. The American team placed first and Raisman placed second in the all-around, behind teammate Kyla Ross. Raisman competed at the Secret US Classic in May. She won the all-around competition, as well as the balance beam (tied with Jordyn Wieber) and floor exercise, tied for second on vault, and tied for sixth on uneven bars. Raisman competed at the Visa Championships. She was the leader after two rotations and in third place at the end of day one. She also posted one of the highest balance beam scores of the night, 15.2, same as Alicia Sacramone. She continued to perform well on day two, finishing third in the all-around. She also won two National titles on balance beam and floor exercise, and placed eleventh on uneven bars. At the Olympic trials, Raisman performed well, apart from a step out of bounds on floor exercise. She continued to perform well on day two, securing a spot on the Olympic team. She was also named team captain. During qualifications, Raisman was the only gymnast on the US team to not have a major error. Her four clean routines surprisingly won her a spot in the all-around over Jordyn Wieber. She also qualified fifth to the balance beam final and first to the floor exercise final. During the team final, Raisman competed on balance beam and floor exercise. She scored a 14.933 on beam and a 15.300 on floor. Her performances helped the US win their second Olympic gold medal. In the all-around, Raisman started on vault, where she scored a 15.900. She moved to uneven bars, which she performed fine and scored a 14.333. On balance beam, Raisman had a very large balance check and grabbed the beam to stay on. She scored a 14.200. On floor, she still omitted the punch front layout after her Arabian double front, but still scored a 15.133. Originally, Raisman tied with Russia's Aliya Mustafina for the bronze, until a tie breaker was induced and the bronze was awarded to Mustafina. In the balance beam final, Raisman performed th. She originally scored a 14.966, but her coach, Mihai Brestyan filed an inquiry about her score. Her appeal was accepted and her score was changed to 15.066, tying her for the bronze with Romania's Catalina Ponor. A tie breaker was then induced and the bronze was awarded to Raisman. In the floor exercise final, Raisman performed third. Raisman scored a 15.600, her highest score on floor the entire Olympics, and won the gold over Romania's Catalina Ponor and Russia's Aliya Mustafina. Raisman and teammate Gabby Douglas joined Shannon Miller as the only Americans to win two gold medals at a single Olympics. Raisman was also the most decorated American gymnast of the Olympics. Shortly after the conclusion of the gymnastics competition at the Olympics, Raisman announced her intention to compete at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. Floor Music 2009 - "Que Locura" by Christian Reyes 2010 - [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmHkPhZHC9I "Asi Se Baila el Tango" from Take the Lead] 2011-2012 - "Hava Nagila" by DJ Jacob Category:National Team Member Category:American gymnast Category:World Gold Medalist Category:Brestyan's Gymnastics Category:2012 Olympian Category:Team Captain Category:Olympic Gold Medalist Category:Olympic Floor Exercise Gold Medalist Category:Fierce Five